Posted - 09/30/2008 : 14:33:14 Give your thoughts in this, from what I understand, first-ever situation in the NHL. What impact will it have on the team? How will the players react? Is Mike Gillis taking a desperate stab at keeping Luongo in the 'nucks lineup after the 2010 season?

In my opinion, giving the guy the captaincy without the opportunity to speak to refs or wear the C is pointless. Instead of giving Luongo the C and having Mitchell dealing with the refs, why not just give it to him?

18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)

99pickles

Posted - 10/03/2008 : 02:08:15 Luongo has stated that he intends on painting a 'C' on his helmet, and will remove it if the league tells him to (as reported on the 'NHL's Home Ice' show)

Many goalies have been locker room leaders, they just couldn't be captains.

Yes, he is more or less an honorary captain.

Yes, they are trying to appease him in an attempt to keep him longer.

Yes, this is a marketing ploy.

Axey

Posted - 10/02/2008 : 22:48:29

quote:Originally posted by wyntyre

Yeah...I had the understanding after Bill Durnan that goalies weren't allowed to be captain....I mean it says it right in the rulebook....so I don't get who's dropping the ball on this. Personally, I agree Luongo amongst other goalies should be or should have been captain...why are they allowing it to happen now. as well....why can't they wear the "C"...that's stupid...old pictures of Bill Durnan with the "C" are cool. To me it just seems like a publicity thing....Roberto has such a limit of what he can actually do on the ice, that it's more of an inner team thing than anything.

Yeah I don't get it either, I think since there is alternate captains then why not? The alternates can take the ceremonial faceoffs and a goalie can still by any means argue with a ref.

Who agrees with me when they think of a goalie captain, Ron Hextall comes to mind, Roy is well, Brodeur definitely and also Hasek when he was on the Sabres, not that this has anything to with anything but I remember him breaking his stick over the posts so many times. I guess you can say it showed his passion

Chicago Blackhawks GM

Jesus didn't tap.

wyntyre

Posted - 10/02/2008 : 20:50:08 Yeah...I had the understanding after Bill Durnan that goalies weren't allowed to be captain....I mean it says it right in the rulebook....so I don't get who's dropping the ball on this. Personally, I agree Luongo amongst other goalies should be or should have been captain...why are they allowing it to happen now. as well....why can't they wear the "C"...that's stupid...old pictures of Bill Durnan with the "C" are cool. To me it just seems like a publicity thing....Roberto has such a limit of what he can actually do on the ice, that it's more of an inner team thing than anything.

Canucks Man

Posted - 10/01/2008 : 23:48:53

quote:Originally posted by PainTrain

Just a little confused. Will the "C" be on his jersey or not?

When the going gets tough....the tough get going!

No the "C" will not be on his jersey.

CANUCKS RULE!!!

PainTrain

Posted - 10/01/2008 : 20:09:04 Just a little confused. Will the "C" be on his jersey or not?

The Vancouver Canucks have named Robert Luongo as their Captain. However, according to league rules Goalies can't wear the C so they Canucks have named Willie Mitchell, Mattias Ohlund, and Ryan Kesler as alternates. Mitchell is designated to communicate with on-ice officials and Ohlund will take the ceremonial faceoffs.

I think it's without a doubt that Luongo (like Brodeur in New Jersey) is an undisputed team leader who deserves some form of recognition for the significant roles they play on-ice and in the dressing room.

As well, the Canucks, I think, deserve credit for going against the grain and appointing a goalie as Captain. At the same time, I'm not entirely sure that it's the right choice as far as mechanics go. As stated, Luongo is the "spiritual" leader but the splitting of other tasks amongst the alternates could potentially lead to some issues on-ice and in the locker room.

Overall though, I think it's a good choice and deserved recognition for Luongo's roll on the Canucks. I'm sure Canucks fans are hoping that his groin injury (sustained the same day he was named Captain) isn't too serious.

As an aside, the last goalie to be named Captain was the Habs' Bill Durnan (47-48 season) who left his crease so much to argue calls that they changed the rules the next year to prohibit goalies from acting as captains or alternates.

Your thoughts?

Axey

Posted - 10/01/2008 : 07:04:22 I don't see anything wrong with it really, except the lame video on Canucks TV, embarrassing. Bill Burnan was the last goalie captain, for the Habs in 1947-48.Other goalie captains include:

Posted - 10/01/2008 : 00:38:47 I find this hole thing really interesting. First off no matter how you cut it Luongo is the teams best and most deserving leader, why not make it official? Does it really matter what position he plays? I also have my doubts about it, Captains are supposed to help fire the team up on the bench how is Luongo going to do that from the crease, its not like in an arena with 20,000 screaming people they can here him, sure a big save goes along way but being vocal on the bench is a big part to. I personally thought Mitchell was going to be captain and I am happy that he is the one who gets to deal with the refs.

CANUCKS RULE!!!

Guest4519

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 21:56:22 Interesting. The NHL site only lists the 3.

Beans15

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 20:52:59 As found on wikipedia:

The NHL has only had seven goaltenders be captains. The first one was John Ross Roach of the Toronto St. Patricks during the 1924-25 season. George Hainsworth of the Montreal Canadiens, Roy Worters of the New York Americans, Alex Connell of the Ottawa Senators (all from 1932-33), Charlie Gardiner of the Black Hawks (1933-34), Bill Durnan of the Canadiens (later half of 1947–48), and Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks (2008-present) are the other six.

There is a picture of Turk Broda wearing the Captain's "C" but is actually wearing Toronto Team Captain Syl Apps's sweater.

Prior to the 1948-49, the NHL made a change to the rules prohibiting goalies from being captains. This was due to Bill Durnan leaving his crease to argue calls with the referees far too frequently. Opposing teams said this gave the Canadiens unscheduled timeouts during strategic points during games. This became known as the "Durnan Rule". Because of this rule, goalies cannot wear the "C". While the Canucks have named Luongo the captain for the 2008-09 season, typical captain duties have been delegated to other players. Willie Mitchell will deal with the officials on a nightly basis and Mattias Ohlund will deal with any ceremonial aspects of the position such as pre-game faceoffs.

Guest4519

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 20:34:42

quote:Originally posted by Pasty7

its the first ever "offcial" goalie captaincy,, just last year anyone notice that they had three alternate captains in Washington that is because Kolzig was team captain,, and who better he had been there his entire career ,, personally i have worn the C on my jersy for 2 years now in junior this will be my 4th and i'm a goalie i dont see how pointless it is??

Pasty

Luongo is the 3rd "official" goalie captain...Hall of Fame goalie Charlie Gardiner was captain of the Chicago Blackhawks when they won the Stanley Cup in 1934 and goaltender Bill Durnan of the Montreal Canadiens was captain during the 1947-48 season.

Beans15

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 20:10:12 Ya, I gotta agree that this is both a marketing ploy as well as an attempt to keep Luongo longer term.

That being said, I have a couple of points to add.

Most often, the captain of a team also greatly displays the identity of the team. Think down the line of the great team captains of the past or the captains of today and you can almost always link the style/attitude of a team to their captain. What is Vancouver's identity?? Without Naslund and Linden, it really is Luongo. The defensive, never quit attitute is what I see as Vancouver's identity and I don't think they have a player on their roster that exemplifies that as well as Luogo.

However, Luongo came to Vancouver who had a reasonably decent team and were not missing many puzzles from being a legitimate Cup contender. Since then, they have slide pretty significantly. This is now his his third team (Islanders and Panthers before) that he is playing on that really don't have a hope in winning the Cup. How long will one of the top 3 goalies in the league play on a team that will not contend for the Cup??? They have done nothing in the past two seasons to show that they are willing to build around him either.

I think another bad season and Captain or not, he is gone. I think they guy will want to win eventually, or at least have a shot at winning.

Guest6875

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 16:56:58

quote:Originally posted by Guest6875

From Pasty7: ". . . personally i have worn the C on my jersy for 2 years now in junior this will be my 4th and i'm a goalie i dont see how pointless it is??"

I'm not saying it's pointless to wear the C. He would be wearing it if the league would allow it, but they don't, and also won't allow him to speak with refs, somewhat negating the purpose of being the captain aside from being a "locker room leader" — something he can and was doing without it.

Guest6875

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 16:55:36 From Pasty7: ". . . personally i have worn the C on my jersy for 2 years now in junior this will be my 4th and i'm a goalie i dont see how pointless it is??"

I'm not saying it's pointless to wear the C. He would be wearing it if the league would allow it, but they don't, and also won't allow him to speak with refs, somewhat negating the purpose of being the captain aside from being a "locker room leader" — something he can, and was, doing with it.

leigh

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 16:24:28 Without researching this at all here are my thoughts. I think that it IS a marketing ploy, as well as a desperate attempt at keeping Luongo happily engaged as long as possible. They know he was not happy in the last season and this is a way of legitimizing his voice and making him feel important (beyond stopping pucks). Completely overboard in my humble and sometimes illinformed opinion.

What does this say to guys like Ohlund, Mitchell and even the Sedins? "You're not a good enough leader" is what it says! Surely one of them should be wearing the C and give Luongo the A! How can he be expected to represent his team on the ice? Sure a captain is more than the team rep on the ice...but that is an integral portion of what he does. And by the very rules of the game Luongo has his hands tied.

I say give him the A, not the C. Same result in the dressing room and better results on the ice.

BTW - This also confirms that Sundin is NOT coming to town (but there was little possibility of that anyway) Orrrrrrrrr.....maybe this is a temporary move until Sundin arrives???? (OK just kidding!)

Ok now i'll do some research....

Pasty7

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 16:11:40 its the first ever "offcial" goalie captaincy,, just last year anyone notice that they had three alternate captains in Washington that is because Kolzig was team captain,, and who better he had been there his entire career ,, personally i have worn the C on my jersy for 2 years now in junior this will be my 4th and i'm a goalie i dont see how pointless it is??

Pasty

99pickles

Posted - 09/30/2008 : 15:17:34 It's almost meaningless except to the media and fans. He will be the official captain to the team and in the dressing room, but the 3 alternates (one of whom has already been changed since the announcement) will perform all the actual in-game responsibilities. So what's the point? Many players are leaders in the dressing room without ever wearing the 'C' and that's where Luongo fits in with his leadership. So it's just a marketing ploy, really.